This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Understanding Automatic iTunes Store Purchase Downloading

The iTunes Store offers lots of great audio, video, and book content that you can purchase, download, and enjoy on iOS devices and computers. Before iCloud, to get the same content on more than one device, you had to use the sync process to move the content into iTunes on a computer (unless it was purchased on the computer of course) and then use iTunes to sync the content onto other devices. And it was even more work to make the content available on both a Mac and a PC.

iCloud takes away these hassles in a couple of ways. First, you can configure all your equipment (computers and iOS devices) to automatically download any future music, app, or book purchases you make from the iTunes Store. Second, you can easily download any past purchases of music, TV shows, apps, or books directly onto your iOS devices.

Configuring your devices for automatic downloading is covered in a section for each type of device: iOS, Macs, and Windows PCs. You need to read only the sections that are relevant to the devices you use.

Note: No Movies (or Podcasts) for You!

You can’t use iCloud to move movies you obtain from the iTunes Store onto your devices.

To get movies on your devices, you have to use the old-fashioned approach by moving the movies into your iTunes Library through the sync process (if they weren’t purchased on the computer) and then using the sync process to move those movies onto your iOS devices.

Movies you rent can only exist on one device at a time. If you didn’t rent the movie on the device on which you want to watch it, you need to move it back to your iTunes Library and from there move it onto a different device through the sync process.

The same is true of podcasts. To get them on all your devices, subscribe to them in iTunes on a computer and use the sync process to move them onto your iOS devices or download them directly onto each iOS device using the iTunes app.